Love Me Back
by EllakiWritesStuff
Summary: Hermione and Draco never got along. They would always mock, judge and humiliate eachother. Could their pure hatred change into love, under the presence of a new enemy? Can they truly, unconditionally love one another? Can they truly love one of their most hated enemies back?
1. The Shower

**A.N. I don't know what made me start this fic. I really don't. However, I'm pretty aware that I do not, under any means, own Harry Potter and everything else related to Harry Potter. I also have to mention that English is not my mother language, so please do not pay attention to my errors, as I'm sure they will be quite a few. Please kindly point them out so I can edit them and make this fanfiction better! Do not forget to review, tell me your opinion and please make sure to include things you want/ don't want to happen later in the story! Love you guys! Ps. This is my first story EVER, so please be gentle and understanding on the comments, if there will be any. Thanks, xoxo Ellie.**

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Hermione yawned loudly while staring at the dusty pages of a book she must have read over fifty times in the last few years, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them". She laid exhausted on one of the few armchairs in the Hogwarts library. She really didn't notice how quickly the time has gone by since she started the chapter on Hippogriffs, and was slightly shocked it was already time for . She quickly grabbed her school bag, her books and her wand and quickly set to the Great Hall.

Dinner was great, as usual, the students ate happily now that all the terror Voldemort had brought to the school and the wizarding community had finally vanished. Laughter and talking never stopped echoing through the Great Hall. The seven year students didnt make that big of a noise though, not only because they were only a few of them since no-one really wanted to come back to Hogwarts after the war, but because they were also really worried about their upcoming Newts exams as well. Tomorrow's exam was Potions, and every single student had the right to worry.

Hermione of course had studied hours after hours for over a week now, spending night after night at the library, learning every single potion she could. She started thinking about how tired and exhausted she felt and how many hours she would spend sleeping after everything was done, in order to regain her lost power, when something made her turn her head towards the Slytherin table. She saw a small piece of paper, neatly folded into an origami figure fly all the way to her. However no-one really payed attention, since everybody was chattering non stop about how cruel Snape would be when grading their papers. She slowly took the paper, unfolded it, and read it.

The perfectly sized letters, read ;

"Nervous about tomorrow, sweetheart? Don't stress. We both know who'll get the higher score. br / M."

Hermione turned her head once again at the Slytherin table, gazing Malfoy in the eyes with a look that screamed "You wish".

When dinner was finished, Hermione waved goodbye at Harry, Ron and Ginny, and made her way towards the Heads room. She muttered the password, got in, and was of course welcomed by a familiar grin.

"Listen, I don't have time to argue about unimportant things right now, so please, keep your mouth shut." she said and quickly walked over to her room, shutting the door closed and leaving Malfoy standing frozen, with the grin still on his face.

Almost half an hour after having laid down on her bed, she realised her stress wouldn't let her sleep. She sat up and wondered what would help her relax and finally sleep before the exams. "Oh, of course. A bath will surely do the trick." br / She quickly got up and headed towards the bathroom. She was almost sure Draco was asleep by now, so she didn't lock the door or put a ton of locking spells on it like she used to do every single time she used their common bathroom. She just closed it, got naked, closed the tap and let the water run. She got in the hot bathtub, while plenty of bubbles almost suffocated her. She was officially in heaven. She let her head rest casually on a small pillow, closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully.

Draco was too laying on his bed, turning over each side every two minutes, unable to sleep. Maybe he was as nervous as Hermione about the exams after all.

He sat up straight and felt the sudden need to pee, so he walked towards the bathroom. He opened the door, and walked in. He noticed the steam, the sound of splashing, and most importantly, the scream.

"Damn it". He said. "Can't you just lock the bloody door? He yelled at her while trying not to look at her face to face.

"GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" she screamed again. br / "What the hell is wrong with you , woman?" he yelled. Then he suddenly left the bathroom, closing the door shut behind him, still needing to pee.

After the incident, Hermione quickly ended her bath, dried herself up and left the bathroom as well, trying to go unnoticed while seeking back into her room, hoping Malfoy was in his. But of course, that never happened, because as soon as her foot touched the ground on the other side of the door, Malfoy yelled at her: "Why didn't you lock the fricking door? It's not like you're the only one using the bathroom in here!"

"I forgot, ok? I thought you were asleep! I really didn't think you'd want to use it right now. Plus I thought I'd only take a minute, but then I got asleep, and you came barging in like a bloody fool, clearly not noticing the light was on or the steam or anything!"she screamed at him, trying to prove he was wrong after all. But he wouldn't have it.

"WHAT? I am the one to blame? YOU are the one who didn't lock the door in the first place, Granger! Anyways, I'd love to continue reminding you of your obvious stupidity, but I'm in urgent need of finally peeing, since I wasn't able to do so for the last twenty bloody minutes!"

And with that, he pushed her aside and run to the bathroom, this time not even having the time to lock the door, himself.

Hermione went to her room, while mumbling things like "stupid ferret", "git" and "I'll show you" and covered herself with her blankets, drifting slowly to sleep. Tomorrow would be a difficult day.


	2. A Tough Day

**A.N. I know the first chapter** **seems a bit off, but I swear I'll get better at it with time! It's my first ever fanfic after all haha! Love you guys! Xoxo, Ellie**

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The sun shined all the way through Hermione's windows right onto her sleeping face, waking her from a long, long sleep.

"Oh my God! No, this can't be happening!" she screamed, while jumping out of bed. She quickly run to her bedside table, and froze.  
 _01:15 pm_  
It was official. Hermione Granger had overslept for the first time in her whole life.  
"I can't believe it! I'm late! Oh... Oh no... I.. No, this can't be true.."  
She walked to her mirror and looked at herself, a frightened and shocked look on her face.  
"OH MY GOD! I'VE MISSED THE EXAMS! No, no way! ..How?! I put on my alarm last night, didn't I?" And then she suddenly remembered. Being all grumpy with Malfoy and tired from the countless hours of studying, she had forgotten to set her alarm last night, and she was now face to face with one of her worst fears, missing exams.  
She run to the bathroom, trying desperately to fix her extremely frizzy hair, brushed her teeth, got dressed and run down to the Great Hall as fast as she could. The Potion's exam had started in 10:00 am, as scheduled, and the students were now finished, eating relieved from their stress and chatting happily.  
Harry and Ron noticed Hermione searching for them with her eyes, and quickly waved at her, knowing how sad and mad she would be for missing one of this year's biggest N.E. exam.  
Hermione waved them back and started walking towards the Gryffindor table, when suddenly she changed her mind, and turned around.  
Running once more, she managed to get to the classroom where the exams had previously taken place, pleased that professor Snape was still there, checking over some papers on his desk. She approached him, but was stopped, when she heard him say; "Well, well miss Granger. I'm very surprised you didn't show up for the exam, but I sadly have to inform you that, as you probably already know, it is impossible for you to take the exam some other time. I'm sorry but I'm afraid you didn't pass Potions, at least this year."  
Hermione knew that trying to talk to him wouldn't change his mind, so she chose to get back to the Heads room, lock herself up in her room, and cry.

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Back at the Slytherin table, Draco was in some deep thoughts. He was surprised Hermione hadn't showed up to the exam himself and wondered whether she just overslept or was that embarrassed by the other night that she chose not to leave her room. He thought it over, over and over again, trying to wrap his mind at how stupidly she, out of all the seven years at Hogwarts, had managed to miss the exam and fail.

* * *

Hermione cried. She cried, not only because she had failed, but because she knew that this exam meant everything for her future career. She was supposed to write and succeed, in order to get a decent job at the future, have a good life and live her life happily. She cried because this stupid fail had caused her not to be able to get the job she always dreamed of; one of the aurors position at the Ministry of Magic, alongside with Harry and Ron. She remembered how many hours of continuous studying and memorizing had been for nothing, nothing at all. She really felt like she had nothing else to have hope about. She didn't care about love, only for her career and family and now that she was finally able to have her family back, her dream job was nowhere near.

Draco walked in the Heads common room, and immediately felt the need to search for her. He _had to_ mock her for her stupidity. He felt the _need_ to make her feel even worse than he was sure she was already feeling. But he found her nowhere. He then stood outside her room's door, trying to hear her make any sound, hear anything that would justify that she was, indeed, a wreck.  
He heard nothing. Feeling a bit mad, he carefully and slowly opened her door, only to find a sobbing Hermione inside, fallen to the floor, clearly crying her heart out. He walked towards her, ready to say something mean to her, when he suddenly stopped, and the worst part was that he didn't even know why. He looked at how terribly weak and valnurable she seemed, while she was staring at him, prepared to hear his hurtful words. Just then, something clicked in his mind, and he actually felt sorry for her. He truly felt sorry for the disgusting, awful mudblood, that was tearing up once again before him. He felt valnurable, too, at how easily she was able to change his mind, change his motives. Hermione continued staring at him, when he surprisingly sat down next to her bedside her bed. Neither of them talked, and she had finally stopped crying. After a few silent minutes of peace, he calmly said; "Why are you so stupid?"  
"What?"  
"Why are you so stupid crying over a fricking exam?"  
"What? Do you know how important this exam was? Do you know how much it meant for my FUTURE?" she yelled.  
"You know, you can have a wonderful future without working in the Ministry of Magic, as well. Life's not over. Get over it."  
"Why do you care?"she said, looking him in the eyes. She noticed he appeared troubled.  
"I don't."  
"Then why are you here? Why are you telling me this? Why aren't you mocking me about how stupid I am for oversleeping? Comforting me, much?"  
"I don't bloody care! I just wanted you to know that you really shouldn't be crying over something so fucking stupid!"  
There was a moment of silence, when she said; "Thank you."  
He left as quickly as he came, leaving Hermione in her room, all alone, again.


End file.
